A Global Call to Action In Support of Transparency and Justice

Second anniversary of Collateral Murder – April 5

April 5th will mark the two year anniversary of the release of Collateral Murder – a U.S. intelligence video that depicts the indiscriminate slaying of at least twelve civilians in Iraq including two correspondents for Reuters. The airstrike also grievously injured two young children of a Good Samaritan who stopped to help the wounded.

Bradley Manning – accused of uploading this video to WikiLeaks – has since been arrested, detained for nearly two years, and is currently undergoing a court-martial.

His Supposed Crime?

Releasing vital information to us, the public, regarding vicious war crimes committed by the United States Army.

For ten months, from July 2010 until April 2011, Manning was held in solitary confinement in a U.S. Marine Corps brig at Quantico, Virginia, where he endured treatment which Amnesty International has claimed was both harsh and punitive. A large group of legal and human rights scholars continue to lobby that the conditions under which he was being held – including severe, months-long sleep deprivation and solitary confinement, forced nudity and other humiliations – breached the Constitution, as well as the Geneva conventions against torture.

Following worldwide outrage and protests, he was transferred to the Army medium security facility at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, where pre-trial detainees are normally held. To date, the U.N. rapporteur on torture has continued to be denied access to Manning.

In February 2012, Manning was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his alleged role, credited with being honorable and brave.

On Friday, April 6, 2012 a collective of individuals from around the world will stand up in support of Bradley Manning. Innocent or guilty, he deserves justice: namely, a fair trial.

And you can help.

In cities across the globe, individuals –including you – are being called to action. We are asking that you link with others and use public spaces to educate people about the mistreatment of Bradley Manning, and the cause he has come to symbolize. Help people understand what is going on with Manning, what it means, and what they can do about it.

1. Find an image of Brad. The ones posted on our www.opmanning.tumblr.com have been selected partly because of their suitability.

2. Create an image that can be used as a single-color stencil. Keep wording and detail to a minimum to make it easier to cut the stencil.

3. The image can be artistic and interpretive, but it has to look like Bradley Manning. The point is to create an iconic image that anyone anywhere can reproduce.

Click SUBMIT on the menu bar at the right on the Tumblr, Submit a Photo. Add source/attribution and contact information, if desired, in the Post section. Or you can post it and put a link in the Comments, below.

The Tumblr has several submissions already, so feel free to get started spreading the message! Images of Assange, Wikileaks, Arab Spring, Campanadas, Occupy, NDAA, ACTA, SOPA, anything relevant to transparency and censorship are also suggested. Please add them to the Tumblr as a submission or post a link to it.

Guerrillartista Security for IRL [defacements]

Vinyl or plastic tablecloths and placemats make great stencils. Lay the printout over it, tape in place and cut out black areas with a razor or exacto knife. Smaller stencils are obviously easier to handle especially when you are just starting or in a risky or windy location. Bigger ones can be made by tiling the printout of a letter-size image.

For banners, old sheets or blankets from a thrift store work well, remember you will likely NOT be able to retrieve it so go cheap. The bottom will need to be weighted or tied down. Regular house paints work for big ones, acrylic paint for smaller, spray paint can be useful but messy, it will bleed through the back of most fabrics more than the other two. It is less messy to paint banners on a cheap plastic dropcloth from the paint department of any store selling paint.

Graffiti toolbag: spray paints, duct tape or other heavy tape, disposable gloves, stencils, two-way radios if you have a team. Pack supplies in a cheap bag you can ditch. When painting dark surfaces, spray a light color background first, then spray stencil as usual. Practice first.

Scope targets out in both day and night before attempting action. Take notes on cameras, ATM machines, police stations and hangouts, nosy-looking neighbors, etc. Above all, be discrete, don’t set off alarms for neighborhood watch people. The best places are not residential neighborhoods, but more public spaces that will be seen by pedestrians or easily visible driving.

MAKE SURE you have an ESCAPE ROUTE that will be hard to follow in a car. This is why highway overpasses are useful, highly visible and good for fast getaways. The simplest arrangement is a driver to drop off the artist in a discrete location close to the target. The driver then goes to a good lookout position and communicates by two-way radios, headsets are ideal.

Never carry any real ID. Wear dark or black clothing, working in teams with a lookout is best. Avoid neighborhoods you are not familiar with. If you are being pursued, DITCH anything incriminating once you are out of sight. Have a good back story for what you are doing in the event you are caught. DO NOT say anything more than something utterly vague, as little as possible is best. Believe your own story.

If you are arrested, refuse to say ANYTHING AT ALL until you have a lawyer present.